Never Underestimate a Hug
by CamsthiSky
Summary: "The nightmare wasn't over. Luffy may have been awake physically, but it seemed like the rubber boy was still mentally trapped in his whatever hellish dream he had been having. Nothing anyone said or yelled had any effect on Luffy." One-shot. Post time-skip.


**It's been a rough couple of weeks for me, but I'm doing better and I'm getting my life back on track. This is just a cute little one-shot that hit me during the middle of the night and it just had to write it up and post it. gain, if you guys have any suggestions or if there's anything grammatically wrong, or if you just want to give some feedback, please review! It makes me really happy when I find I have a new review. It's one of the little things that just makes my a bad day good. Seriously, just taking thirty seconds to tell me what you think would be amazing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece**

* * *

"LUFFY!"

Luffy sat up in bed, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, feeling as if he had just been running a week-long marathon. His eyes darted around the dark room, looking at everything, but not really seeing it. Memories came back to play again and again. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't stop himself from watching the scenes unfold as they played over and over. Each memory seemed to last years.

A punch in the face knocked him out of his bunk and onto the floor, startling him from his terrifying trance.

"Are you awake now?" A quiet voice asked, firm, but still sounding as scared as Luffy felt.

Luffy moved his fingers to feather over his jaw. He had been hit in the face. Wide eyes slowly made their way to a tall figure standing over him. Tears gathered in his eyes for some unknown reason.

"Zoro," Luffy croaked.

The swordsman relaxed his tense shoulders and knelt next to the quivering boy. Tears made their way down the rubbery cheeks and Luffy couldn't remember why he was crying. All he knew was he felt scared, and sad, and hurt, and all he wished for was someone to comfort him.

"Zoro!" Luffy cried, with more force this time. He pushed himself off the floor and latched his arms around Zoro's neck. He ended up sobbing into the green-haired man's shoulder.

A calloused hand rubbed his back sympathetically, but there was still the slightest tremble to it. It was as if Zoro felt just as afraid as Luffy did.

But why? Why was Luffy feeling so lost and alone? Why would he feel like that, when he had his friends all around him? Why did he feel as if he were the only one in the world when he knew in reality that he was in Zoro's arms, on the Thousand Sunny with his whole crew?

* * *

Honestly, Zoro thought Luffy would never wake up. And when he did, it was just as terrifying as when the kid was asleep, maybe even more.

Zoro had woken to Luffy mumbling random nonsense. It wasn't unusual for Luffy to be talking in his sleep, but this time around seemed different. After Zoro listened for a few moments, he was by Luffy's bedside in seconds.

Luffy...he was crying.

And then the screaming started. Zoro shook the boy and called his name, even as the crew awoke around them and came over to see what was wrong. It was to no avail. Luffy was almost immune, tossing and turning about. He even swung a few times at Zoro and Nami, who were the closest. The crew was in a frenzy, trying to figure out what to do.

"Luffy-san!"

"DOCTOR! HE NEEDS A DOCTOR!"

"You're a doctor! Give him a sedative!"

"Back off of the idiot. It's not going to help if you're an inch from his face!"

"Stand back Nami-swan! He might hit you!"

"What's happening to Luffy-bro?"

"Oh no, Luffy!"

"LUFFY!"

The crew kept muttering in the background but Zoro was no longer paying any attention. His focus was now on the boy who had suddenly sat up at his last call, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

But the nightmare wasn't over. Luffy may have been awake physically, but it seemed like the rubber boy was still mentally trapped in his whatever hellish dream he had been having. Nothing anyone said or yelled had any effect on Luffy. He grew deathly still and sucked in a large gulp of air. And never let it out. Even after almost two minutes. His eyes moved back and forth, as if he were watching a something that the rest of the crew couldn't see. Finally, Zoro had had enough. And he decked the kid in the face.

Zoro sighed in relief as Luffy let out his breath and began to pant as his oxygen-deprived body fought for air. The boy looked around wildly from his place on the floor and his eyes latched onto Zoro's tense form.

"Are you awake now?" He tried not to sound as scared as he felt, but he didn't think he did that great of a job.

Zoro watched warily as Luffy lightly touched the side of his face that Zoro had decked, as if in astonishment. Tears began to form in Luffy's eyes as he took in the view of Zoro standing over him.

"Zoro," Luffy whispered hoarsely. Zoro visibly relaxed at his captain's call, no matter how disbelieving it sounded. He was just glad Luffy was actually awake.

He knelt next to the trembling boy as the tears began to overflow and ran down the rubber-brained captain's cheeks.

"Zoro!"

Zoro got the wind knocked out of him as Luffy slammed into him with full force. Rubbery arms latched around his neck and Luffy was sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.

He rubbed Luffy's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. He wasn't really good at these sort of things. He was still used to the happy-go-lucky captain from two years prior. This captain still held the same enthusiasm and energy, but there was new pain that reflected fresh in his eyes, and it made Zoro nervous. He wasn't sure where to step anymore.

Still, Zoro wasn't one for beating around the bush. He was blunt when he had to be and made sure that the crew knew that it was none of his business when he didn't need to know.

It was time for his usual bluntness.

"Bad dream?"

A nod.

"Wanna talk about it?"

A negative.

...

"Are you okay?"

Luffy didn't answer for a few seconds, but the sobs stopped. A slight shake of the head in a negative was all that Zoro needed.

"Then just know we're all here for you."

Luffy's head shot up at those words and he looked over Zoro's shoulder at the smiling and reassuring faces of his half-asleep crew.

"You guys..." Luffy trailed off, blinking rapidly. An infectious grin suddenly came over him and suddenly he was back to the obnoxious captain everyone knew and loved. Well, almost. There was still that pain and loneliness that Zoro could still see deep within his eyes whenever their gazes connected.

But Zoro knew that there was some pain you just never got over. You couldn't get over it, you just had to live with it and grow from it. And Luffy seemed to get that.

Sure they couldn't do much about that pain, but they could always help with the loneliness. Because the Strawhats were a family and Luffy would always be with his family, especially if Zoro had anything to do with it.

Zoro would make sure that no matter what, Luffy would never be lonely again. And if all he could was give Luffy a hug when he needed it most, then he would make damn sure that the hug was given. No matter what the situation.

"Sanji! I'm hungry!"

"There are leftovers in the fridge."

"I shall play a new melody that I created this afternoon after we fought off that giant crab! Yohohohoho!"

"Midnight feast!"

"Yay!"

Zoro groaned. He could really go for some sake right now.


End file.
